BullMarketRun.com

Gold is back above $1,600 after trading as low as $1,590 overnight…as of 7:15 am Pacific, bullion is up $8 an ounce at $1,607…Silver is 9 cents lower at $28.67…Copper is off 2 pennies at $3.43…Crude Oil has lost 61 cents to $95.73 while the U.S. Dollar Index is up over one-third of a point at 83.29…

Gold Demand/Supply Numbers

Total private investment holding for Gold fell 4.8% in 2012 versus 2011, reflecting the increased sensitivity of Gold market investors toward the price of the metal, a New York-based consultancy (CPM Group) has reported…demand from private investors fell 2 million ounces from the 2011 level, to 38.7 million ounces in 2012…while this is down from 2011 levels, it’s the fourth-largest annual increase in estimated net private investor holdings of Gold on record, which date back to the 1950s, said CPM Group…“A historically large number of investors remained interested in buying Gold in historically high volumes, but they were unwilling to do so when prices rose…instead they waited to step in as buyers each time prices softened last year”,  the firm said in its annual “Gold Yearbook” report…CPM Group said while concerns for the global economy remained, the fears about an imminent collapse of the global financial system eased off…buyers now seemed to be interested in “buying Gold as a long-term protection in the face of what seems more likely to them now to be long-term economic stringencies”, the firm said…

The global supply of Gold fell in 2012 but is expected to rise in 2013, CPM Group also reported…their estimate is that overall refined Gold supply declined 0.6% in 2012 to 119 million ounces…“The decline in total supply was driven by reduced mine production in market economies and lower exports from transitional economies”, CPM Group said…“An increase in Gold secondary recovery from old scrap curbed the decline in total Gold supply during 2012″…the consultancy listed market economy mine supply at 71 million ounces in 2012, down from a record 71.9 million in 2011…this came after three straight years of increases…the region with the strongest net increase was in Asia, with supply rising 570,099 ounces in 2012, CPM Group said…the greatest net decline was in Africa, where output fell by 615,265 ounces…major Gold-mining nations where output was estimated to be down last year include South Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali, Tanzania, Indonesia, the U.S., Australia, Papua New Guinea, Argentina, Brazil and Peru…key nations with rising output included Canada, China, Ghana, Turkey, Mexico and Chile…mine production is forecast to climb by 4.6 million ounces to 75.6 million in 2013…“Barrick Gold’s Pueblo Viejo project in the Dominican Republic and Ivanhoe Mines’ Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia are the two largest projects coming on stream in 201″, the consultancy said…“These two mines are expected to add 958,000 ounces and 700,000 ounces to 2013 supply, respectively…several new projects are also expected to begin production in Brazil, Russia and Australia in 2013″…

Meanwhile, CPM Group said, the secondary supply of scrap Gold hit a record 42.3 million ounces in 2012, up 1.7 million, or 4.2%, from 2011…Indian secondary supply rose to 8 million from 6 million the prior year…“The increase in Indian Gold secondary supply during 2012 is attributed to the decline in Indian Gold imports and an increase in Gold-jewelry demand during the year,” CPM Group said…“Indian Gold imports are the primary source of Gold supply for India…imports had declined in 2012, as a result of the increase in import tariffs and a weakening Indian rupee against the U.S. dollar…meanwhile, there was an increase in Indian Gold jewelry demand during 2012″…

“Buy Something That Central Banks Can’t Print”:  Schiff

“You can’t leave your money in the bank – that’s the lesson we’re learning now with Cyprus. Why leave your money in an interest-bearing bank account when you never know, the bank could fail…why not buy something that central banks can’t print?,” Gold bug Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital told CNBC’ this morning on “asia Squawk Box”…

Today’s Markets

Asian markets enjoyed modest gains overnight with Japan’s Nikkei average gaining 22 points to close at 12494 while China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 3 points to 2301…European shares have been under selling pressure today as investors grow increasingly worried over the political stalemate in Italy, adding to concerns over Cyprus which is poised to impose capital controls on its banks before they re-open tomorrow morning…in Italy, the country’s main leadership candidate, Pier Luigi’s Bersani, reportedly said that only an “insane person” would want to govern the nation now, adding that it’s “in a mess and faces a difficult year ahead”…Italy paid more to borrow over five years than it has since October at its latest auction, indicating worries over its financial situation…in North America, the S&P 500 continues to get pushed back whenever its flirts with its 2007 closing high…the S&P finished less than 2 points from its all-time closing high yesterday while the Dow posted a fresh closing high of 14560…both are weaker through the first 45 minutes of today’s trading…the Dow is down 97 points while the S&P has fallen 10 points…the TSX is off 65 points while the Venture is down 3 points and has hit a new 3.5-year low of 1091…the low 1090’s, however, is a support zone – we’ll see if it holds…

Canadian Dollar Chart Update

While the U.S. Dollar Index continues to show strength, the Canadian dollar has been in a downtrend for over 6 months and that’s definitely problematic for the Venture Exchange which performs best when the greenback is weak and the loonie is in a primary uptrend…recently, the Canadian dollar found support right around 97 cents as predicted but there is strong resistance at 99 cents – in the immediate vicinity of the declining 50-day moving average (SMA)…the loonie is up slightly in early trading today at 98.3 cents…

WTI Updated Chart

Crude Oil has made a nice recovery recently after finding support at the $90 level…like the loonie, however, it’s also nearing resistance as shown in John’s 6-month daily chart below…

Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V) Updated Chart

As we mentioned yesterday, the best companies to focus on in this difficult environment for juniors are those that have real discovery potential and Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V) continues to be in that category with its Gold Viking and Jewel Ridge projects showing very strong potential…John’s 2.5-year weekly chart, interestingly, shows steady buying pressure even during February and March with the stock dropping from the mid-teens in sympathy with the overall market…RBW is up a penny to 10 cents as of 7:15 am Pacific, and a close above resistance at 9 cents would be technically significant…

Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in RBW.